“Well, Timmy,” the guide replied, “It’s a big, bumbly dry fly, like this one here. And up here most times it’s the color of a Cream Sickle and damn near as big as your pinkie finger with whiskers fore and aft as white as those on Santa’s chin.”

What’s it for?

“Well, it’s for skimming. You see, it’s really a salmon “skimmer;” what they calls a “waking” fly. First, it wakes up fish that ‘er nappin’; and, second, it makes a “wake” when you retrieves it straight. We use it for catchin’ brookies on smooth water, in the riffles or rapids. Smear it with dry-fly grease and ya can’t retrieve it too fast neither. Or bounce, skip and dance it too much on the surface. You can plop it close a log or rocky shore and waggle it. You know, make it “shiver.” Let it rest and shiver it again. Look out ! It’s called a bomber, ya see,  ‘cause ‘a the way fish explode on it. Bam !

How’s it made?

“Deer hair spun on a streamer hook size 2 to 4 clipped into a cigar shape and palmered with white, stiff hackle. Some mistake it for a bass bug or a caterpilly. Fact is, it’s one of the most popular salmon flies in Canada. The wings, split or not, and the tail are made from tufts of white deer hair, sometimes woodchuck. Gotta trim the bottom near flat close up to the shank to give the hook a better bite.  Old-timers like the body to end just short  ‘a the hook point. Again, for better bite.”

“Some ‘a the boys take out their Swiss Army knife and scissor off the  wings and hackle and use it as a pike streamer. Got an extra one? Hand it here; I’ll show ya.”

What’s in imitate?

“Nothin’. Nothin’ ‘atall, Mr. Shay.”